


Halloween; A Snapshot of Perfection

by octobercafe



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: this was supposed to be short but it isn't oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 10:59:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12746979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octobercafe/pseuds/octobercafe
Summary: Dipper and Mabel get a surprise trip to Gravity Falls... just in time for Halloween.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for someone on Tumblr and it was supposed to be written in time for Halloween, but let's just ignore the fact that I'm publishing it in November and say that every day is Halloween if you want it to be.

Dipper Pines was used to rude awakenings. The first type, physical, usually came from his sister. Mabel was notorious for her talent at rousing people from even the deepest of sleeps. The second type, emotional, was a bit different. Dipper had only ever had one of those rude awakenings in his life, and that was when his parents gave him a packed bag, a half-used tube of sunscreen, 25 dollars in cash for the road, and told him that they were sending him off to go see his great uncle—grunkle, if you will—in a town called “Gravity Falls”.

 

Granted, Gravity Falls was arguably the best thing that had ever happened to him. He’d made new friends, discovered impossible-seeming creatures, and witnessed unforgettable events. In fact, at the end of their summer, Dipper was sure that he’d rather stay in Gravity Falls forever than go back home. But things do change and people do grow.

 

The first couple months of freshman year of high school was going pretty okay for both of the Pines twins. Dipper was getting good grades, and Mabel was absolutely excelling in art. Sure, it was much different than middle school, and being a freshman wasn’t exactly amazing, but it seemed to be alright.

Yet under the surface of it all, Dipper missed Gravity Falls. He missed it a _lot_. He tried not to dwell on it too much, but there were some nights where sleep didn’t come easy, and all he could think of was the scrapbook Mabel kept underneath her bed. He’d get up, and pad softly across the hall to knock gently on Mabel’s door.

 

Call it what you will, magic, twin capabilities, whatever, but on those nights Mabel would always immediately open the door to reveal the scrapbook out in the middle of the floor of her room, flipped to some random page. She’d clearly been thinking about it too, and they’d spend hours turning through the pages and laughing softly.

She missed Gravity Falls as much as he did. And it had only been like, two months. How were they going to last an entire year? Dipper wasn’t sure.

 

However, early in the morning of October 30th, Dipper was awakened by a very excited and a very loud Mabel, who barged into his room holding a slip of paper and yelling.

 

“Dipper Dipper Dipper Dipper Dipper Dipper Dipper Dipper!” She jumped onto the bed, shaking him.

 

Dipper made an exhausted, unintelligible sound and turned onto his side.

 

“Wake uppppppp!” Mabel paused for a second, then socked him in the arm. “You’re gonna wanna hear this!”

 

“Do you like… ever sleep?” Dipper asked, but blinked open his eyes anyway.

 

“Sometimes!” Mabel beamed, and thrust the sheet of paper in front of his face. “But not today, bro! Look!”

 

It took a second for Dipper’s eyes to focus, but when they did he shot straight up. “Holy sh—I mean, are you for real?”

 

“Yes! Mom and Dad surprised me with it when I went downstairs for coffee.” Mabel looked down at the paper, then hugged it close to her chest. “We’re going back to Gravity Falls for Halloween. And we’re leaving in an hour to head to the bus station.”

 

“Wait, an hour? That soon?” Dipper inquired, rubbing his eyes. “Shoot, I gotta get packed! How long are we going for?”

 

“Uh… this printed ticket receipt thing whatever says that Mom and Dad booked us a bus there today and back November 1st. So like, we’re gonna be there for Halloween!” Mabel laughed. “Hopefully we don’t run into any creepy monsters, especially ‘cause I don’t think I’ll be able to bring Waddles along to protect us.”

 

Dipper laughed.

 

Packing was pretty easy, he just threw in a couple of shirts and pants, a book, a flashlight, a journal, and a pen. He put the hat that Wendy had given him on his head, and smiled at his reflection in the mirror on his door. Perfect.

 

Soon enough they had been driven to the bus station, and stood outside with their parents waiting for the departure to Gravity Falls.

 

“Be sure to stay safe,” their mom said. “Don’t eat too much candy. Call me when you get there so we know you made it!”

 

“Have fun though, kids,” their dad added on, giving them a good-natured fatherly grin. “Bring some candy back for us.”

 

“Will do, Pops!” Mabel smiled, the smile widening as a bus pulled up.

 

“This must be it.” Dipper picked up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders. “Well, bye!”

The kids boarded the bus, showing their ticket to the driver and headed toward the back to sit down. They were the only ones onboard.

 

Between naps and staring out the window, the trip went by fairly quickly, and before they knew it they were rolling on into Gravity Falls. Everything was so familiar, and Dipper felt as if he were coming home again.

 

The bus pulled over, and the driver turned to look at them. “Arrived in Gravity Falls.”

 

Excitement pooled around inside Dipper, and he could feel a rush of adrenaline sweep through his veins. Yes, he was home.

 

Mabel sprang up, Dipper following right after her as they hurried off of the bus. The orange light of the setting sun illuminated the beaming faces of Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, and Soos Ramirez.

 

“Welcome back, kiddos,” Stan said, fixing them with his trademark Grunkle Stan grin™.

 

Mabel let out a combination of a whoop, a yell, and an excited shriek, hurling herself at Stan and giving him a warm hug.

 

“Guys! You’re both here? Weren’t you out traveling the world or something?” Dipper was just incredibly glad that both of his grunkles were going to be there for their stay.

 

“Well yes, but we were in a small town in Iceland—lovely country, really—and I got a call from your mother asking if you guys could come stay at Gravity Falls for Halloween. So of course, we left the Stan O’ War with a friend and booked a plane back across the Atlantic.” Ford smiled. “And here we are.”

 

“You did all of that for us?” Shock and gratitude echoed in Dipper’s voice. “Just to see us for a couple days?”

 

“You betcha, kid.” Stan winked. “Halloween in Gravity Falls with the young Pines twins? Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

 

“Welcome back dudes.” Soos extended a wrapped parcel, handing it to Dipper. “Some of Abuela’s cookies! They’re super delicious.”

 

Dipper accepted the parcel, and felt his mouth start to water. He realized that they hadn’t really had anything to eat on the bus apart from a granola bar that they both shared about halfway through the ride. “Thanks, Soos.”

 

“Well, shall we go? Wouldn’t want you two catching a cold on the day before Halloween,” Ford chuckled.

 

“Yeah, that would suck!” Mabel agreed, and together the group of five walked toward the old, tired-looking car.

 

Soos, Mabel, and Dipper piled in the back—which was a bit of a tight fit—but crushed against a car door or not, Dipper was just glad to be back in Gravity Falls with some of his favorite people in the world.

 

Speaking of favorite people, though… “Does, uh, Wendy know that we’re coming? Or like, Candy and Grenda too?” Dipper felt a small blush cover his face, and he was glad for the darkening twilight.

 

“Yup,” Stan laughed. “Soos told Wendy as soon as he heard about it, but I’m not sure about Candy and Grenda.”

 

“Ooh, it’ll be a surprise then.” Mabel grinned.

 

Before long, they were pulling up in front of the Mystery Shack, and Dipper couldn’t help but feel that he was home at last. The familiar peeling paint, the dirty windows, the tacky attractions and creatures.

 

He pushed open the car door, stepping out onto the ground and breathing in the smell of Gravity Falls, a strange combination of mystery, forest, and adventure. Dipper wasn’t sure if he could quite describe how he knew what adventure smelled like, but Gravity Falls was definitely it.

 

“Welcome to the Shack, dudes!” Soos stepped out after Dipper and gestured proudly to the building.

 

Honestly, it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing of structures, but at that moment Dipper could care less.

 

“Hey, aren’t you in charge of the Mystery Shack now, Soos?” Dipper inquired as he stepped in the doorway.

 

Ford beamed. “He sure is! He’s done an excellent job at keeping it in order—”

 

“And making money! The guy’s a natural at making up weird things,” Stan interjected, and gestured toward a bizarre sculpture composed of the body of a stuffed animal giraffe, the head of a painted wooden lizard, and the tail of what appeared to be the cord to a phone charger. “See? Look at this… this… uh… thing! Genius!”

 

Soos blushed. “Aww, thanks Mr. Pines! Abuelinda helps me keep it all clean and stuff.”

 

“Where should we put our stuff?” Mabel asked, grinning. “Upstairs?”

 

“Actually kiddo, the Shack’s a bit crowded right now. Ford and I are sleeping upstairs and Soos has the master bedroom, but we figured that we could do our best to make it comfortable for you two,” Stan responded, and led them into the living room.

 

A pair of sleeping bags lay on the fraying rug, with a couple blankets piled beside them and a bowl filled with bags of various unhealthy junk food on the table. Two slips of paper, one labelled ‘Dipper’ and another labeled ‘Mabel’, were placed on the sleeping bags. Upon closer inspection, the bag with Dipper’s name on it looked to have a galaxy pattern and the bag with Mabel’s name on it looked—quite frankly—like a rainbow disaster. It was nice, though, and Dipper appreciated the gesture.

 

Mabel must have too, because when she saw her sleeping bag she yelled and jumped on it, holding the rainbow-colored fabric tightly. “Holy wow! I love this so much!”

 

“Oh man, thanks you guys! Were these expensive?” Dipper set his bag down on the galaxy bag.

 

“Nothing’s expensive if you steal it,” Stan said proudly, fixing them with his good old-fashioned ‘I just stole something and I have no regrets’ smirk.

 

Ford smacked him. “I thought you said you paid!”

 

“I did! Well, sorta… I left a piece of cherry candy on the counter. That stuff is _delicious_.” Stan looked just about as far from sorry as you could get. “But yeah, I’m glad you guys like them.”

 

They sat for a while in the living room, talking and eating snacks, until eventually Ford looked down at his watch.

 

“Let’s head to bed now, kids! Halloween’s tomorrow, after all, and we wouldn’t want you to be too tired to enjoy it.” He gave Mabel a pat on the head. “Sleep tight!”

 

The adults filed out of the room, Stan switching the light off as he left. Dipper crawled into his sleeping bag, curling onto his side and taking in a deep breath. He was back in Gravity Falls. Halloween was tomorrow. Honestly, Dipper wasn’t sure if this was some sort of good dream.

 

He decided to pray that it was reality, and shut his eyes.

 

_Good night, Gravity Falls._

 


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper awoke to the sound of laughter from the dining room. He blinked open his eyes, confused. It took a second for him to remember where he was, but when he did, he shot straight up and grinned.

 

The sleeping bag beside him was Mabel-free, so she was presumably in the dining room along with everyone else. Dipper found it a little bit odd that she hadn’t woken him up, but the extra sleep _was_ pretty nice.

 

He unzipped his bag, padding across the old rug and toward the kitchen.

 

“Yo, Dipper’s up!” a familiar voice yelled, and Dipper felt a blush sweep across his cheeks.

 

Wendy Corduroy. The girl that he had had a crush on for most—if not all—of the summer. He was pretty sure that he had gotten over her, the romantic feelings fading to an admiring sense of platonic affection.

 

She sat at the kitchen table, which was _extremely_ crowded. Soos, Stan, Ford, Mabel, Wendy, Candy, and Grenda had all somehow managed to cram themselves around it.

 

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Stan said affectionately.

 

Mabel beamed. “Happy Halloween, bro-bro! We’re having candy for breakfast. Oh wait, not you Candy, I mean _candy,_ like, the food!”

 

Candy, the girl, let out a laugh. “I understand, Mabel!”

 

“Well dude, are you just gonna stand there? Come have some Twix or Starburst or something!” Wendy grinned.

 

“I—uh—is there even room at the table?” Dipper asked.

 

“Of course there is!” Mabel shifted on her chair, moving to the edge of the seat and leaving approximately seven inches for Dipper to sit on. “Come over!”

 

Dipper laughed, and managed to plop himself down. He took a Snickers bar from the pile of candy on the table, and opened the wrapper. “Hey, you got real candy this time!”

 

“Oh yeah, the store’s got a way better selection for actual Halloween than for Summerween,” Stan said, his mouth full of an impressive amount of Starburst.

 

They laughed, ate, and laughed some more, until eventually the pile of candy on the table had diminished to a single Almond Joy, which no one looked particularly eager to grab.

 

“Well I hope that everyone’s fueled up for an adventure, because it looks like we’re going to have to drive down to the store to get more candy for all the trick-or-treaters tonight.” Stan patted his belly and burped. “Man, that was delicious.”

 

“I don’t think that we’re all going to fit in the car, though?” Dipper asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Are you kidding? It’ll be like a fun game of Tetris.” Stan laughed, and stood up. “Ford’s staying here to decorate, but apart from that, off we go!”

 

Sure enough, it _was_ like a game of Tetris—a very difficult, sweaty, and probably illegal game of Tetris. Impressively, they did make it to the store without any fatal injuries, although Dipper did get accidentally punched two times.

 

The front of the store was decorated with cheesy Halloween decorations, and Dipper couldn’t help but smile at all the dumb puns on the various signs.

 

The store was very close to how Dipper remembered it, apart from the fact that there was a new cashier. A very familiar—and very emo—teen stood behind the counter. Robbie.

 

“Robbie! What’s up?” Mabel asked cheerfully.

 

“Ugh. It’s you two,” Robbie said grouchily, though under the surface Dipper could sense that Robbie wasn’t as irked to see them as he acted. Helping to save the world from an evil triangle guy could definitely be seen as a bonding experience of sorts.

 

Nevertheless, they headed onward into the store. The candy wasn’t difficult to find, and they ended up getting a huge bag filled with all sorts of various sweets. Surprisingly, Stan paid for the candy. With _real_ money. Dipper was pleasantly surprised.

 

They piled back into the car, which was made a little bit more difficult due to the fact that the bag of candy was about as big as Dipper, but they still managed to make it back to the Shack in one piece, though Dipper did get accidentally punched two more times.

 

It was only when they were all back in the living room that Dipper realized that they were missing something key. Mabel must’ve realized it at the same time, because her eyes grew wide and she gasped.

 

“We forgot costumes!” She seemed extremely panicked. “Oh no, how could we not remember? We _always_ remember, and it’s not Halloween without costumes…”

 

“Woah wait a second Mabel, I’ve got an idea.” Wendy stood back for a second, then nodded her head to herself. “What if you two went as each other for Halloween?”

 

Mabel grinned in excited agreement. “Ooh yes! That would be great! Let me do a Dipper impression to really get in the mood.” She dashed into the other room, appearing back in the doorway with one of the blue pine tree hats, identical to the one that Dipper had worn for most of the summer. “Hi guys! I’m Dipper Pines, and I’m a nerd who sneezes like a kitten—”

 

Dipper interrupted. “Hey! I am _not_ wearing a skirt.”

 

“You could probably just wear one of her sweaters and get away with it, the sweaters are definitely Mabel’s most iconic fashion statements.” Stan nodded. “Plus, don’t you two always do some sort of joint Halloween costume? This would be perfect!”

 

After a good deal of badgering and pestering from the others in the room, Dipper finally relented. He would be Mabel for Halloween.

 

The day passed in a flurry after that, they helped out with decorations, played a few board games, and snuck some candy. Eventually, the skies started to darken and Mabel deemed it dark enough to put on their costumes.

 

Wendy wasn’t wearing any costume apart from a headband with devil horns and a small pitchfork, but she was cool enough to pull of the minimalist devil look anyway. Candy was dressed up as a green M&M, and had pretty much gone all-out, spray painting her glasses green as well. Grenda was dressed up as a black cat, though the costume was missing one of the ears. And Dipper was Mabel, and Mabel was Dipper.

 

Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as Dipper thought it would be. He kept his jeans on, but Mabel had lent him one of her pink shooting-star sweaters, which was surprisingly warm. Dipper had no idea how on earth Mabel was able to wear them in the summer heat.

 

“Let’s go trick-or-treating!” Mabel grinned, examining her Dipper outfit in the mirror. She had copied his look exactly, shorts, shirt, vest, and hat. Her hair was stuffed into the cap, but a few curly brown strands of it still hung down.

 

“Aren’t we like, a little old for that? We’re in high school now,” Dipper responded.

 

Mabel pouted. “Come on, Dipper! We’re in Gravity Falls for Halloween, let’s have a fun time!”

 

As much as Dipper hated to admit it, Mabel did have a point. They _were_ in Gravity Falls for the first time in months, and he did want to have fun. He relented. “Okay, fine. I hope no one sees my face…”

 

“I’ll walk with you guys to make sure you don’t die or anything,” Wendy gave them a smile, and twirled her plastic pitchfork.

 

 _Okay, maybe this won’t be_ too _bad…_ Dipper thought.

 

Mabel pulled a camera out of her bag and got Stan to take two pictures of the group—one of them smiling, and then one of them making silly poses.

 

“Have fun, kiddos!” Stan yelled as they left the house.

 

“Be safe!” Ford called after. “Remember, prioritize your safety over getting candy!”

 

“Unless the candy in question is Starburst, in which case definitely prioritize the Starburst.” Ford smacked his brother, and Stan snickered. “Kidding, kidding.”

 

It was dark outside, but it looked like the moon was almost full, which added onto the seemingly magical effect of the night. To be fair, Gravity Falls was magical in general, and Dipper really hoped that none of the dark parts of that magic showed themselves that night.

 

They ventured into town, arriving at a small house with a driveway lined with jack-o-lanterns. There was a speaker somewhere in the yard playing iconic Halloween songs—it was blasting Monster Mash at the moment.

 

The group headed up to the door, and Mabel rang the doorbell excitedly. “Trick or treat!”

 

A nice-looking, middle-aged lady opened it, holding a bowl full of full-sized Hershey’s bars. “Aww, aren’t you all darlings! Have some candy, kids.”

 

They each took a bar (apart from Wendy, who was leaning against the railing with her arms crossed and a casual smile on her face) and headed back to the street.

 

“Ooh, what a score!” Mabel said, and the moonlight was bright enough that Dipper could vaguely see her wide grin. “Full-sized Hershey’s bars at the first house we stopped at? This is gonna be a great night!”

 

Indeed, the night did prove to be great.

 

They saw tons of old friends, acquired an excessive amount of candy, and a few times Dipper was almost positive that he saw something dark moving in the shadows, undulating and moving in an inhuman way. When he blinked, however, it was gone, leaving Dipper to wonder if his eyes were just playing tricks on him, or if there really was something out there in the darkness.

 

By the end of it, Dipper and Mabel arrived back at the Mystery Shack with giant bags of candy in their hands and a warm feeling in their heart. Candy and Grenda had gone back to their homes, and Wendy had gone off to a Halloween party.

 

“How’d it go, kids?” Stan asked excitedly as they opened the door. “Did you have fun?”

 

“Yeah, totally!” Mabel dumped her bag of candy on the table. “Look at this haul!”

 

Dipper added his candy to the pile, and stepped back to survey the admirable mound. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment at the sheer amount of sweet stuff that they had acquired.

 

The Pines family all sat themselves at the table, rushing to cram piece after piece of candy in their mouths. They sat like that for a while, laughing and eating, until eventually Ford proposed an idea. “Do you all want to go stargazing?”

 

“Yes!” Mabel said excitedly. “That sounds awesome!”

 

Ford grabbed a green blanket. “Great! Let’s head outside.”

 

They made their way outside onto the lawn, where Ford spread out the blanket and they all settled themselves onto it.

 

The sky was beautiful, an ultramarine canvas spattered with pinpricks of light. It was a cloudless night, so the stars shone unobstructed. They stayed like that for a while, just laying on their backs and enjoying each other’s company while staring at the night sky above them.

 

A small, brief dash of light caught Dipper’s attention, and he raised his hand to point to the northern part of the sky. “A shooting star!”

 

“I saw it too!” Mabel chimed in excitedly, raising her hand to the sky as well.

 

“Me three!” Stan agreed, lifting his hand.

 

“And me four.” Ford added his hand, lifting it so that it looked almost as if he was giving the sky a high five.

 

They laughed, and Dipper felt the rush of a strange feeling, a coalescence of adventure and comfort, wonder and familiarity, love and excitement. At that moment, everything was okay. Any worries that he had about school, about friends, about life itself, slipped away and left only the warm comfort of family.

 

A snapshot of perfection.

 


End file.
